1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system and a method for soliciting and receiving orders for merchandise. The system and method are particularly useful for solicitation over radio and/or interne transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention bridges three different fields of prior art, which will be noted below. First, the invention is applicable to conventional programming radio transmission, such as AM and FM transmission. Radio transmission is well known and there's no need to elaborate on it, except to note that it is well known to transmit a “rider” in addition to the actual program transmission. For example, it is known to transmit a station's call letters or music format, so that it can be displayed in radio system equipped with decoder to decode such rider transmission. This system is generally referred to as Radio Data System (RDS) and is available on many advanced car audio systems (see, e.g., Blaupunkt™ Florida DigiCeiver). Second, mobile telephony, such as cellular and PCS, is also a well known technology and need no further explanation. Finally, the interne is a well known technology and needs no further explanation.
Solicitation over radio transmission is currently done only by commercials which are timed between regular programming periods. Generally there would be a programming period, for example playing of three songs, and then a commercial period. Currently, the most direct solicitation in such commercials is to provide the listener with a phone number to call and inquire or place an order for the advertised product. Solicitation over the internet is done generally using web pages, where the potential customer may use a search engine to look for a particular product, or brows over the offering of the particular web page. One specific example is the selling of music over the internet. For example, one may enter general web pages such as cdnow.com or member only pages such as BMG or Columbia. There, the user may either use a search engine to search for a particular CD by entering the title, artist, band etc. Alternatively, the user may brows the offering, for example, alphabetically. Notably, in addition to having a picture of the CD cover, the user may also listen to clips from the albums over the internet. Moreover, new technologies allow the user to download entire pieces digitally and store them in a memory, rather than purchasing the album. Such downloads are generally available for a fee.
The above noted technologies and services are very useful and support commerce. However, there is a need for capitalizing on the synergy available when combining two or more of these technologies and services.